How to read this wiki

The notation [C-M-a], denotes a key binding. Here, C- represents the <Control> key (which is labelled <Ctrl> on most keyboards), M- represents the <Meta> key (which is labelled <Alt> on most keyboards), and a simply represents the a key. Thus, to produce this key combination, you should press simultaneously the <Ctrl>, <Alt>, and a keys on your keyboard.

You can form sequences of key bindings. For example [C-x C-c] denotes the [C-x] key combination (i.e. <ctrl>+x) followed by the [C-c] key combination (i.e. <ctrl>+c).

Below is a list of some keys you might encounter on this wiki:

notation

corresponding key

C-

<Ctrl>

M-

<Meta> or <Alt>

S-

<Shift>

left

<left arrow> (similar notations are used for all arrow keys)

RET

<return>

Sometimes, the command bound to a key sequence is listed next to it in this way: [C-x C-f] (or M-x find-file).

This means that instead of typing the [C-x C-f] key binding, you could achieve the same effect by typing:

This wiki does not aim at reproducing official GNU documentation. Instead, it links to it using this notation: Major Modes (`(info "(emacs) Major Modes")').

You can of course click on the link to view the relevant manual section (in this case, the "Major Modes" section of the Emacs manual). But since Emacs is self-documented, you can also directly see the documentation within Emacs, by typing: